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We know, we know, it’s not a good idea to compare ourselves to those on Instagram.

And yet we can’t help but have travel envy or wish we had those gym bods, or thick silky hair like the attractive people on social media.

But the comparisons are being extended to our relationships too now, according to a new study which revealed that a third of British couples feel their relationship is inadequate after seeing pictures of ‘perfect’ partners plastered across social media.

(Picture: Ella Byworth for Metro.co.uk)

We often come across sweet gestures and romantic moments on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram which can make it easy to draw comparisons with our own relationships.

Among the 2,000 Britons surveyed by dating website Match.com, 36% of couples and 33% of singles were left feeling disillusioned with love.

The research reveals these ‘perfect’ partnerships left many feeling jealous or trying to portray their own relationship as great even if things are not going well.

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The study found that 60% of those in a relationship and three-quarters of singles feel social media, films and TV have given people unrealistic expectations.

As a result, to portray their relationships in a more positive light, many only post ‘happy’ moments on social media now.

A fifth admitted their social media is a ‘heavily filtered’ version of their relationship and a quarter confessed their relationship looks better online than it is in real life.

A third only post the most fun and romantic pictures of their partner and them online while 43% said they only put happy photos up when their relationship is anything but.

The research showed that the more we use our social media accounts the worse we feel.

Those who admitted to heavy use of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter – checking more than ten times a day – were twice as likely to feel low self-esteem (18% vs 8%).

If you do find yourself spending a lot of time online, try to wean yourself off or try to go cold turkey with a social media detox for a short amount of time. Try for a week and then the rest of the month.

There is also plenty of material online and in books about how to stop social media addictions.